<p style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><strong>"A somber, disturbing mystery fused with a scathing look at the fashion industry. </strong><strong>Mangin writes in a confident, razor-edged style."</strong><strong> - Kirkus Reviews</strong></p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><strong>Condom dresses and space helmets have debuted on fashion runways.</strong></p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">A dead body becomes the trend when a coat made of human skin saunters down fashion's biggest stage. The body is identified as Annabelle Leigh, the teenager who famously disappeared over a decade ago from her boyfriend's New York City mansion.</p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">This new evidence casts suspicion back on the former boyfriend, Cecil LeClaire. Now a monk, he is forced to return to his dark and absurd childhood home to clear his name. He teams up with Ava Germaine, a renegade ex-model. And together, they investigate the depraved and lawless modeling industry behind Cecil's family fortune.</p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">They find erotic canes, pet rats living in crystal castles, and dresses made of crushed butterfly wings. But Cecil finds more truth in the luxury goods than in the people themselves. Everyone he meets seems to be wearing a person-suit. Terrified of showing their true selves, the glitterati put on flamboyant public personas to make money and friends. Can Cecil find truth in a world built on lies?</p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 0px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><strong>In high fashion modeling, selling bodies is organized crime.</strong></p>
I always ignored the desire to write, thinking it wasn’t a valid career but can’t ignore it anymore. I have had several factual articles published and this has given me the confidence to publish some of my fiction.
<p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Charlotte Castle, author of ‘Simon's Choice’: </span></strong><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Just the kind of book I enjoy. A subtlety of touch is required with this subject matter but Emily's predicament does not seem forced, clumsy or even sordid.</span></em><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></strong></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p> </p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Ian Cook, author of ‘Neferatu and the Red Queen’: </span></strong><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">This is a very keen observation on a part of today's society that seems very bleak and brutal somehow. Yet there is great humanity in this story ... for me, it brings to mind films like 'Trainspotting' and the '60s 'kitchen sink' dramas.</span></em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p> </p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Missy Fleming, author of ‘Mark of Eternity’: </span></strong><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">A lot of stories come out about college teachers and students and you take us into that relationship showing us what it's really like.</span></em></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></em></p><p> </p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Carl Ashmore, author of ‘The Time Hunters’: </span></strong><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">I'm a college lecturer so you are writing about a world of such familiarity to me. However, the main focus of your novel is such a difficult one and you handle the material with a true deftness of touch. There is a fluidity to your prose and I found this incredibly accessible.</span></em><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></strong></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></em></p><p> </p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Amy J. Bates, author of ‘Love Match’: </span></strong></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">I read it all the way through in one sitting. I couldn't put it down!</span></em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"> <br /></span><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Alexie Aaron, author of ‘The Hauntings of Cold Creek Hollow’ and ‘Decomposing’:</span></strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"> <em>I am awed by the characterization in this first act. There were so many emotions that Emily went through but all were real, seamless and in character. I challenge anyone to read this and not be impressed by how the author has taken her main character through such a maze of emotions.</em></span></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p> </p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment by Sly, author of ‘Stonefish’:</span></strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"> <em>This is a sensitively written exploration of what happens when a lonely and naive young woman becomes emotionally entangled with one of her students ... a stupid thing to do, but human.</em></span></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p> </p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Margaret Callow, author of ‘Strange Boy’ and ‘The Spirit of the Butterfly’: </span></strong><em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">You’ve created visual strength and lots of atmosphere. Emily's pathos is obvious and you portray her so well. Sad, lonely and longing for what she feels she's been cheated of. The young buck, Jamie is crafted well too. </span></em><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p></p> <p style="line-height:150%;margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p><p> </p><strong><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from KJ Kron, author of ‘Saint Peter Killed God’: </span></strong><em><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">There is something that you pull off here - you make me sympathetic toward your narrator while at the same time I couldn't help but want to slap her for being stupid.</span></em><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span>